


Defeated

by wyvernwolf



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 04:04:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17480825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wyvernwolf/pseuds/wyvernwolf
Summary: Merlin discovers he's not good at something.Prompt: "Anything Christmas related and fluffy with Merwin. All other ships something cute and fluffy. I love fluff. And Merlin with cats (I have a HC about that) "





	Defeated

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Eggsyobsessed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eggsyobsessed/gifts).



> Eggsy doesn't actually appear but the Merwin is there. Promise!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this and Happy Belated Christmas!

If Merlin had hair he was sure he’d be tearing it out by now. He threw the scissors across the room (where they joined the other three scissors already embedded into the wall), scrubbed his hands over his bald head and huffed out an aggravated sigh.

Ada, his seal point Tonkinese, lifted her head up in inquiry at the thud and mrowed from her usual spot sprawled out on an old unused laptop in the corner. When she seemed to realise it was just Merlin up to his usual dramatics, she sniffed disdainfully and went back to her nap.

Merlin mumbled an apology to her, which was ignored, before going back to glaring accusingly this workstation.

He didn’t know how it’d all gone so wrong.

He was a genius when it came to technology. There was no computer language that he didn’t understand and no system that he couldn’t hack. He was adept at speaking in a dozen different languages and did so frequently when he had to liaise with the Kingsman branches located overseas. He had excellent hand-eye coordination with excellent scores at the gun range and he prided himself that he could type on two different keyboards at the same time without making a single mistake.

And yet in front of him was ultimate proof of his hidden incompetence.

Merlin growled under his breath. He was the god dammed fucking Quartermaster for a secret intelligence agency and he would _not_ let this beat him.

He roughly shoved aside crumpled paper, ignoring the glitter that stuck to his hands, and picked off the bits of Sellotape that had somehow managed to stick to everything.  He was however extremely gentle when he picked up the centerpiece of his project and placed it with all due care in the safe next to Ada.

She opened one eye when he stroked gently between her eyes with his fingertip and glared balefully at him before promptly going back to sleep, tail flicking gently.

Now with an empty workspace, Merlin took a deep breath, let it out slowly and tried to clear his mind of his previous failure.

Temper successfully under control for now, Merlin grabbed another pair of scissors and a new roll of Sellotape from the drawer, tugged a new roll of paper from the waiting pile, swearing under his breath when the rest of them scattered across the floor, and laid them all with surgical precision in front of him.

Time to try again.

Several hours later and with his wall now absolutely embedded with quivering scissors, Merlin had to reluctantly admit failure. He’d run out of Sellotape and paper, the ribbon was now a tangled ball and his supply of scissors had dwindled to nothing.

And still his project sat forlornly incomplete in front of him.

The sigh that escaped him was pained when he realised what he’d have to do now. Harry was not going to let him forget this as long as he lived and probably not after he’d died either. But there was no help for it. It was his fault that he’d left it until Christmas Eve. He’d just have to live with the indignity of having to ask Harry for help and how smug the fucker would be forever after holding it over his head.

Merlin was aware that his left eyebrow was already involuntarily twitching at Harry’s imagined crowing but he clenched his jaw and instead focused on the quietly pleased look that Eggsy always got when he was gifted something unexpected. That would make everything worth it.

Ada jumped down from her spot and silently padded over. She looked up at him before lightly jumping into his lap to regally survey the damage.

It was nothing short of a disaster. His normally neat workplace was an unholy mess of torn bits of wrapping paper, lengths of wrinkled ribbon that looked like Ada had chewed them up and then hacked them out and the amount of Sellotape that covered everything was criminal. In amongst it all, Eggsy’s present sat looking like a two year old on a sugar high had tried and failed to wrap it.

Merlin’s whole body slumped. It was unsalvageable and Eggsy would laugh him back to Scotland if he saw it.

Ada batted a piece of the ribbon with a soft paw and meowed, seemingly in commiseration. She bumped her head against his hand, asking for love and he automatically gave it, petting her in her favourite spots.

“Oh, love,” Merlin murmured into her fur when she sat up and bumped her head against his chin. She rubbed against his chin and cheek, purring steadily, letting Merlin know in no uncertain terms that he belonged to her.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, Merlin taking great comfort from her warm presence and running his hands up and down her soft sides as she perched in his lap, when the fluttering of a bit of tape caught Ada’s attention. She started out by batting it gently until it one smack had it sticking to her paw and she leapt off Merlin with an annoyed mock growl and started wrestling it on the floor.

Merlin laughed as he watched his ridiculous cat tumbling around then he looked back to his table and all his humour leached out of him in a disappointed sigh. Seeing proof of his failure hurt.

Merlin snorted in disbelief.

Defeated.

By Christmas wrapping.

_Him_.

Tech genius, hacker extraordinaire, linguist, sharpshooter and Quartermaster. None of those accomplishments meant a damned thing when he was still absolutely fucking pants at wrapping presents.

Merlin reluctantly reached for his phone.

He dialled the familiar numbers and pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the familiar Harry-induced headache already springing to life as soon as he heard Harry’s polished tones answering. The bastard was never going to let him live this down.

 


End file.
